William r



(No Model.)

W. R. BOU'IS.

INDICATOR.

Patented Apr. 22, 1890.

% Ill/VE/VTOI? BY ii/'6' I ATTORNEY.

UNITED STATES.

PATENT OFFICE.

\VILLIAM R. BOUIS, OF \VASIIINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

INDICATOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 426,103, dated April22, 1890.

Application filed December 21, 1889. Serial No. 334,513. (No model.)

To all w/tom it may concern:

Be it known that I, VVILLIAM R. BOUIS, a citizen of the United States,residing at Vaslr ington, in the District of Columbia, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Indicators; and I do herebydeclare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of theinvention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which itappertains to make and use the same.

My invention has reference to an indicating device or bulletin-board forthe purpose of denoting the presence or absence of persons or things,but more particularly the former.

The object of my invention is to provide more simple means which can bemore easily operated, constructed, and kept in order than those hithertoin use.

With these ends in view my invention consists in the peculiar featuresand combinations of parts more fully described hereinafter, and pointedout in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents. a front view of mycomplete invention, and Fig. 2 an end view showing the hinged stop swungopen.

The board A, which is by preference made of tin, is provided with aseries of horizontal ways B, in which are loosely placed cards or flatstrips G, bearing the names of the persons occupying the premises, aswhen the device is used for a boarding-house or like purpose.

In Fig. 2 it will be seen that the horizontal ways B are formed by meansof strips of tin D, having their edges bent over to form guides E, whichhold the cards in place and allow them to be slid back and forth, forthe purpose which will presently appear.

Vertical stops F and H are placed upon opposite edges of the board andacross the ends of the ways B, to close them and to limit the right andleft movement of the cards. The right-hand stop is made movable to openand close the ways by beingprovided with hinges I, which. permit it toswing open, so that the cards can be slid out of the ways when re movalbecomes necessary.

A pair of vertical strips or covers G G are placed over the ways B, andare located a sufficient distance from the edge of the board to permitthe notices In and Out to be printed and seen upon that portion of thecards lying between the covers and stops F and H.

In endeavoring to remove the cards C the knobs K would come in contactwith the righthand cover G, and in order to prevent this the cover ishinged at the top by the hinge \V, which permits it to be lifted upclear of the ways, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 2, and it is held inclosed position by the catch Y at the bottom.

The hinged stop is fastened in closed position, as in Fig. 1, by meansof the hook J.

The cards 0 are in the present instance provided with the notices In andOut, which are printed or otherwise made upon their opposite ends, sothat one or the other will be visible when the card is shifted to theright or left by means of buttons K.

The figures 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 may be made upon the vertical covers todenote the number of the room occupied by the party whose name isopposite. In the present instance figure 1 shows that V. R. Bouisoccupies room No. 1 and is out.

In operating my invent-ion the board is first hung upon the wall of ahouse, hotel, or other place where it is to be used, and when one of theoccupants of the house goes out he takes hold of the knob or button 7cand shifts the card to the right. This action throws the ends of thecard against the hinged stop H and brings the word In beneath the coverG, while at the same time the word Out appears upon the right, thusindicating that the occupant named upon the card is out. \Vhen theoccupant returns, this, operation is reversed, and the word Out ishidden, while the word In is made visible.

It is evident that many slight changes which might suggest themselves toa skilled mechanic could. be resorted to without departing from thespirit and scope of my invention; therefore I do not limit myself to theexact construction herein shown; but,

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. In an indicating device, a series of horizontal ways, in combinationwith strips or cards provided with notices and located within said ways,and vertical covers located over the cards and in such juxtaposition tothe notices upon the cards as to alternately expose one and hide theother, in the manner and for the purpose set forth.

2. In an indicating device, the combination, with a suitable board, of aseries of horizontal Ways containing movable cards bearing notices,stops for limiting the backward and forward movement of the cards, and acovering located over the cards and adapted to hide one of said noticeswhen the latter is shifted to the right or'left, in the manner and forthe purpose set forth.

3. In an indicating device, a board pro- W'ILLIAM R. BOUIS.

Witnesses:

R. G. DU BoIs, F. P. DAVIS.

